Environmental group threatens lawsuit against Duke Energy

Wednesday

The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation is planning to sue Duke Energy over pollution from the Riverbend Steam Station that the group says is contaminating area drinking water.

The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation is planning to sue Duke Energy over pollution from the Riverbend Steam Station that the group says is contaminating area drinking water.

The Southern Environmental Law Center sent a notice of intent to sue to Duke Energy under the Clean Water Act on Tuesday. The law group is representing the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation in the suit.

“Basically what happens is they can either correct the problems in the next 60 days or the government can say ‘We want to handle it,’ and they can file their own lawsuit,” said Catawba Riverkeeper Rick Gaskins.

If Duke Energy doesn’t act, the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation say a suit will follow in federal court.

‘A critical resource’

It’s too early to say what Duke Energy will do, said spokeswoman Erin Culbert via email. Duke Energy will evaluate the company’s next steps over the coming weeks.

“We agree Mountain Island Lake is a critical resource for our region and Duke Energy has been monitoring water quality there since 1953,” Culbert said. “We consistently find that water quality is good, fish are healthy and drinking water supplies are safe.”

Riverbend sits on 353 acres bordering the Catawba River, just upstream from Mountain Island Lake, the source of drinking water for much of the county’s residents.

Gastonia and Mount Holly draw water from Mountain Island Lake. Cramerton, Spencer Mountain, Ranlo and McAdenville purchase drinking water from Gastonia. Stanley buys its water from Mount Holly. Belmont draws its water farther downstream.

“The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation and its members are very concerned about continuing serious violations of the Clean Water Act at Riverbend that have caused and continue to cause pollutants to enter North Carolina waters and navigable waters, and cause unpermitted discharges to flow from the coal ash lagoons into Mountain Island Lake in the Catawba River, the drinking water source for hundreds of thousands of people including the residents of the Charlotte area,” the notice states. “The substances illegally discharged at Riverbend include arsenic, cobalt, manganese, iron, barium, boron, strontium and zinc. Many of these flows are bright orange from the contamination.”

Catawba Riverkeeper Rick Gaskins said the foundation’s only choice was to sue to force Duke Energy to make changes.

“We’ve been out there documenting the problems for several months now,” Gaskins said. “And we’ve tried to discuss it with Duke. And they have been unwilling to discuss it with us or to stop the contamination from going into the drinking water reservoir.”

Duke Energy maintains that leaks from coal ash basins are normal and necessary for the earthen dam.

“We have routinely informed the state of the seepage occurring at the toe of our ash dams,” Culbert said. “The volume of seepage is extremely small and has no impact to the overall water quality in the lake.”

Closing plant

Earlier this year Duke Energy announced that it will be retiring the Riverbend steam Station two years ahead of schedule. It is slated to close April 1. Duke Energy built Riverbend in 1929.

“We plan to close the ash basins once they are no longer needed, in close coordination with state regulators,” Culbert said. “Our responsibility does not end once the plant retires. Even once the ash basins are closed, Duke Energy will continue monitoring groundwater there for many years and will continue to manage and steward the site. We will continue our commitment to safety and protecting the environment through and after site decommissioning.”

Duke Energy will submit a plan for closing down the basins a year before they shut down, as required by the state, she said. The monitoring systems will remain in place so Duke can continue tracking groundwater quality at the site, Culbert said.

Riverbend isn’t the only coal plant of concern for the Catawba Riverkeeper. The Allen Steam Station south of Belmont has more coal ash ponds than the Riverbend plant.

“But we decided to start here because it’s directly on a drinking water reservoir for at least 860,000 people,” Gaskins said.

You can reach reporter Amanda Memrick at 704-869-1839 or follow @AmandaMemrick on Twitter.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.